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The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs

nytimes.com

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Re: The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs

#741

Post by whatisthiseven »

bs7280 wrote: post #217
TulliusCicero wrote: post #59

WA state recently passed a law about e-bikes/e-motorcycles to deal with the issue of younger teens on these kinda moped-style e-bikes going very fast around town (and often riding quite recklessly). The law is reasonable, but it strikes me what a double standard there is for biking vs driving. For biking, there's a danger that's noticed, and we quickly pass a law that straight up bans that type of bike for those ride…

There are already mechanisms in place to hold SUV and Truck drivers accountable and track them down (via their license plate). The problem with ebikes is any unlicensed driver can get one, and go 40mph on a sidewalk without any practical way to hold them accountable. I live near one of the busiest biking + walking trails in the country, and the egregious disrespect and recklessness of ebike's and scooters is insane t…

Those mechanisms don't work. Unless the driver was a hit and run or DUI, even fatal crashes almost never result in any charges if the driver claimed they "never saw them", especially so against pedestrians.

Large vehicles are killing people, even with sober drivers and nobody is being held responsible. This is well investigated at this point. Only recently are we finally getting some traction on the awareness front of how bad it is getting.

Re: The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs

#742

Post by sokoloff »

wahern wrote: post #737
s1artibartfast wrote: post #722

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems you already got your wish. Almost every driver is, as you say, "properly insured" It is easy enough to avoid kids that death is is rare, and the insurance cost is quite low - even with astronomical insurance payouts for accidental child death.

> astronomical insurance payouts for accidental child death. There's no such thing. Standard automobile insurance policies cap injury liability in the low 5 figures. If you cause an accident and someone is seriously injured, there's a good chance you'll be personally liable for the majority of damages. Ditto property--you total someone's $100,000 Mercedes and you're likely going to be paying money out-of-pocket. If y…

Mandated minimum insurance limits are often that low, but it’s quite common to get six-figure property damage liability coverage and mid-six-figure overall liability coverage. (And umbrella policies above that, but someone who needs less than half-million in coverage can readily get that on an ordinary auto policy.)

Re: The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs

#743

Post by sokoloff »

forgetfreeman wrote: post #677
cyberlurker wrote: post #474

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those cars already exist. They are made in China and banned for sale in the US.

Oh don't I know it. I'm currently in the midst of a full blown temper tantrum over the Toyota Hilux being unavailable on the US market. I need an actual real truck for actual real truck shit and there's literally nothing on the market that's serviceable.

You can import a 25+ year old vehicle (so up to the mid-6th generation Hilux) for street usage in the US.

Re: The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs

#744

Post by vel0city »

gravatron wrote: post #355
ajuc wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's more comfortable about SUV or a truck than a minivan or combi? How is a tall hood increasing your family comfort? It only increases your ego.

I spent significant time recently in both a new F150 and a Toyota Sienna, and it isn't even close in the comfort between them. F150 wins by a mile by the sheer amount of space you have in that thing for both passengers and cargo. Not to mention the ability to tow.

> F150 wins by a mile by the sheer amount of space you have in that thing for both passengers

How much leg room does the third row have in that F150? I don't think the seats for the sixth and seventh passengers are quite comfortable.

How are the footrests on the second row? Are those Captains chairs on the second row or a rigid bench with no reclining at all? When you talk about how comfortable it is, are you saying that as all the passengers (all 6-7) or just you as the driver?

Are you comfortable letting a three year old operate the doors without damaging other cars around them and climb in and out of that F-150 on their own? My young kids manage the sliding doors just fine, their ability to largely do it on their own and the ease of access of the sliding door makes it a lot more comfortable getting them in and out. In fact, I can open the doors safely before they even reach the car. That's pretty dang comfortable.

> Not to mention the ability to tow.

The thing everyone imagines they'll do all the time but in practice practically never do.

Re: The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs

#745

Post by fragmede »

gravatron wrote: post #355
ajuc wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's more comfortable about SUV or a truck than a minivan or combi? How is a tall hood increasing your family comfort? It only increases your ego.

I spent significant time recently in both a new F150 and a Toyota Sienna, and it isn't even close in the comfort between them. F150 wins by a mile by the sheer amount of space you have in that thing for both passengers and cargo. Not to mention the ability to tow.

The amount of space in the frunk of the F150 lightning is amazing. Such a shame they stopped making them.

Re: The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs

#746

Post by lupire »

alamortsubite wrote: post #693
snypher wrote: post #637

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No-one works on junky new cars; people who work on their cars have a 90's model etc. SOP now is to pull the whole cab off to work on the engine.

I guess I'm old fashioned but I just can't imagine removing the cab to change my uncle's battery.

That's the point. You are a person who can work on a car/truck. Your uncle is a consumer.

Re: The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs

#747

Post by lupire »

HDBaseT wrote: post #709
dd8601fn wrote: post #682

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article says height of the hood and massive A pillars. People like big and boxy. Increased hood height kills people and creates an absurdly large blind area. Massive pillars add roll safety but create horrible blind spots in left hand turns.

Which is strange to me. I hate the big and boxy look. A sedan is the perfect shaped car in my opinion. Wagons are nice too.

You aren't a big tough manly man that other people give way for to avoid getting clobbered.

Re: The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs

#748

Post by doubled112 »

mapkkk wrote: post #736
andrepd wrote: post #393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dutch grandmas can transport 3 kids to school on a cargo bike but young parents in the US need a 4-ton lifted truck? Odd.

the way I see US infrastructure, I feel like they (like most of the world) will never be able to claw their way back out of car dependence. Even the Dutch had to fight tooth and nail for it. I've lived in Germany for a while and there are cities here where even I would be snubbing taking kids to school with a bakfiets, because the biking infra is not good enough, or in other words the mingling I'd have to do with oth…

It is amazing how resistant people are to having their children walk to school in my neighbourhood.

They will complain endlessly about having nowhere to park, traffic, and dangerous driving but would never consider having their child walk. It is too dangerous.

Re: The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs

#749

Post by idiotsecant »

tinfoilhatter wrote: post #296
baron816 wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, probably the right thing to do for large trucks and suvs is to reclassify them so that you need a commercial license to drive them.

[flagged]

It's so weird how billions of families get around without a canyonero

Re: The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs

#750

Post by vel0city »

gravatron wrote: post #669
baq wrote: post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How often people tow anything?

Is this a serious question? A lot of people tow stuff all the time for work, home improvement, or recreation. Not everyone is a city dweller living in a small apartment whose only options to spend their free time is picking which restaurant to eat dinner at.

Yeah. All those accountants and software developers and doctors and insurance salespeople and marketing people and what not gotta tow for work all the time.

Very few jobs require people to tow with their personal daily driver all the time.

> Not everyone is a city dweller

And yet a ton of these city dwellers do drive around in these giant lifted trucks.

It's also incredible to me you can't actually imagine any hobbies that don't require driving a giant pickup truck around. It's just so overly ingrained into your identity. As if it requires a giant pickup truck to go fishing or go to a sports field or go camping or whatever.

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